Apple Patches – and Patches – and Patches

Apple released a boatload of patches at the end of July and another one today. I finally finished all my patching. I better finish this post quickly, before another patch arrives. So to get into it…

I started on Thursday with Pro Application Support 4.0.1. Unaware of what was to follow I gave the patch its own post. Then the floodgates opened so we’ll combine the next four patches into one post.

OS X Security Update 2007-007

Apple released OS X Security Update 2007-007on the last day of July and kept their one-a-month trend for OS security patches. The update patched 45 vulnerabilities across 13 OS X components. The update is for all supported versions of OS X – Intel, PPC, 10.3.9, 10.4.10 and includes OS X server versions. The patch is available through software update or as a standalone download. A restart is required.

I applied the update through Software Update to my iMac and Mac Mini, both Intel based. The update was uneventful and I haven’t encountered any problem.

Airport Extreme Update 2007-004

Apple released an Airport Extreme update at the same time as security update 2007-004 and both can be applied at the same time requiring only one reboot when done through software update. Apple’s only comment about this update was:

This update is recommended for all Intel-based MacBook, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini computers and improves the reliability of AirPort connections.

The patch doesn’t apply to my iMac but it was needed on my Mac Mini. I was reluctant to apply it to my Mac Mini due to my previous wireless problems. I wasn’t having problems so why tempt fate? In the end I decided I’d have to do it eventually so might as well get it out of the way.

The good news is I applied the patch through software update without a problem. A restart was required and was combined with the 2007-007 security update. Wireless starts just fine with multiple reboots and power-ups. Everything seems the same as before the update.

Safari 3.0.3 Beta

Among it’s other patches Apple also updated the Safari 3 beta to plug four security vulnerabilities. The update is for Safari 3 on both OS X and Windows.

I only run Safari 3 on Windows. According to Apple the update is available through Software Update but it wasn’t available through Software Update for me (even with a manual check) so I updated using the standalone download. There weren’t any problems applying the update. I don’t use the Safari 3 beta enough to really be able to tell what was fixed.

iTunes 7.3.2

Finally, today Apple released an iTunes update, bringing the version to 7.3.2. Apple provides a nice succinct description:

iTunes 7.3.2 provides bug fixes to improve stability and performance.

The update is for iTunes on both OS X and Windows. I applied the update to iTunes on OS X without incident. The iPod synced after the update and everything seems to work so far.

There’s More – Just Not For Me

Apple didn’t stop there. They also released an updates for the iPhone and Bonjour for Windows in the past week. Lucky for me neither of those applies to me.